The Sceptred Isle

10/10/2024

20/09/2024

On this day in 1258, Salisbury Cathedral was consecrated. At 404 ft., the spire of Salisbury Cathedral is the tallest in England, and can be seen from all around the city and miles beyond. It acquired this distinction in 1549, when the spire of Lincoln Cathedral collapsed. Similar collapses had struck many cathedral spires in the medieval period, and Salisbury’s would almost certainly have eventually suffered the same fate if it wasn’t for the involvement of famed architect Christopher Wren. In 1668, Wren added timber beams to the supporting piers of the spire and covered the supports with a false ceiling. Further supports were added in the Victorian era, and ongoing monitoring continues today.

19/09/2024

🥴 Big oof.

18/09/2024

👀

17/09/2024

It's long past rose season in England, but I hope you'll forgive one last photo for the year of the blooms at one of my favorite gardens--. English gardens truly are unmatched, and photos like these keep them alive for me even in the dead of winter.

13/09/2024

On this day in 1940, Buckingham Palace was struck by a German bomb during the second of three air raids that day. One worker was killed and three others injured, but despite being struck in sixteen different occasions during the Blitz, there were no mass casualties and physical damage to the Palace was limited.
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth were at the palace during the September 13th bombing, but were ushered to safety and escaped without incident. Previously much of the bombing had taken place in the East End, as this is where key industrial and dockland area were located, but Buckingham Palace was quickly considered to be a desirable symbolic target. After the Sept 13th bombing, Queen Elizabeth famously remarked, "I am glad we have been bombed. It makes me feel I can look the East End in the face".

12/09/2024

I personally think London is the greatest city in the world, but I still give this piece of advice to all first-time visitors to England: get out of London! From the quaint Cotswold villages, the stunning beaches of Cornwall, the endless gardens of Kent, the rolling hills of the Peak District, the marshes of Norfolk, the farmland and fishing villages of Yorkshire.....99% of the best parts of England are outside the capital.

10/09/2024

York Minster // Yorkshire

What's a "minster" anyway, and how is it different from a cathedral? I see this question asked quite a bit in U.K. travel groups! Cathedrals are churches serving as the seat of the bishop of a diocese; though many people believe that cathedral status is granted due to architectural grandeur, this isn't a requirement, but rather a result of the church's status in the diocesan hierarchy. Historically, a minster designated a monastic connection, but today it's an honorific title given to specific churches of significant size and importance. There are 31 such minsters in the Church of England, with minster status being granted as recently as 2022. Personally, I think what tends to confuse people is the assumption that the terms are mutually exclusive, but they aren't--York Minster is both a cathedral and a minster.

06/09/2024

The unicorn has been associated with Scotland since the 12th century when William I first used it on an early form of the coat of arms; it was officially adopted as the country’s national animal in the late 1300s. According to folklore dating back thousands of years, the unicorn was the natural enemy of the lion, symbol of England--with the former creature ruling by peace and the latter by force. It says quite a bit about how Scottish monarchs felt about their neighbors to the south! It wasn’t just a dig at the English, however: unicorns were associated with purity, innocence,pride, strength, masculinity, and power. Following his succession of Elizabeth I in England, James VI/I replaced one unicorn on the Scottish royal coat of arms with a lion; Scotland and England--two mortal enemies now united under a single monarch.

05/09/2024

Listen, American to American--it is *not* the same.

04/09/2024

Melford Hall is an Elizabethan Manor house nestled near the small town of Long Melford, in Suffolk. Originally owned by the abbots of nearby Bury St. Edmunds, it passed into private hands during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Eventually sold to Sir Harry Parker, 6th Baronet in 1786, it has remained the home of the Parker family ever since (though the National Trust purchased the property in 1960). A notable connection is that of Parker cousin Beatrix Potter, who frequently spent time here beginning in the late 1800s, leaving behind an original watercolor and stuffed Jemima Puddle-Duck, among other various treasures.

03/09/2024

JUST LET ME BE FREE.

02/09/2024

On this day in 1666, the Great Fire of London began in a bakery on Pudding Lane. A combination of wind, tightly packed buildings, and the flammable nature of common building materials (wood and thatch) meant that the fire rapidly spread, particularly in the poorer areas, where overcrowding was common. At the time, demolition of structures to create "breaks" was a common firefighting method, but this was delayed by the indecisiveness of the London mayor, further contributing to the spread. As a result, the fire burned for four days and gutted the majority of the medieval city, including St. Paul's Cathedral. Today, the area where the fire started is marked by the Monument to the Great Fire of London. Visitors can climb the winding 311 stairs to a viewing platform, which looks out over the city.

26/08/2024

I'm a different person on vacation.

23/08/2024

There are two kinds of people in my group of Facebook friends...which one are you? 🙃

22/08/2024

Small but intricate Tudor-style knot garden at .

20/08/2024

This unusually complete cross, believed to date from the 8th-9th century C.E., is located in the unassuming St. Lawrence's Churchyard in the village of Eyam. Little is known about the cross, but it's likely that it was erected when Christian missionaries from Lindisfarne, in Northumberland, journeyed to the area to preach. It was originally located buried beside a track at Cross Low, a few miles to the west, a fate which likely helped to preserve it until it was discovered in the 18th century. It has since been left again to the elements, but retains a remarkable amount of detail which photos cannot quite do justice. Eyam is a fascinating place with loads of history, and well worth a visit if you happen to be in the Peak District!

08/08/2024

Stunning summer roses at . // Kent